Carpe Diem…because you have to

My perspective of nature is always shifting but, lately it’s been a rather depressing shift. What I mean is: at what point in my life did I stop viewing nature as something to be cherished, something to behold, but as a charity case? At what point did I begin viewing nature as something I’m afraid of losing and never getting back than as the safety net that was, and is, always there?

You know how you have to change the channel when the poor, helpless, caged animals come on TV and Sarah McLachlan’s, “I’ll Remember You” starts hitting you right in the feels? Well what if I told you that lately, I’ve been having that same, exact reaction when I stand on top of a mountain and look out towards the horizon or when I lock eyes with a whitetail deer across a valley?

What if I’m no longer on a journey to experience everything in this world simply because it’s beautiful but because I’ve grown a fear of never being able to experience it thanks to climate change? To quote the famous NF, “It’s sad, huh?”

The human race has repeatedly abused mother nature and raped her of her natural resources for our own personal gain for hundreds of years and if you don’t believe me, literally just research “rainforest depletion facts” and tell me otherwise–there’s even a kid’s version.

I want to engage in healthy conversation about vaccines and BLM and Big Pharma and Afghanistan but, I just can’t help but recognize that all of these things will cease to exist if we don’t have a planet to do it on. I’ll admit that I’ve become bitter towards the human race for failing to recognize this fundamental fact as they scream their values into a megaphone for the world (read: internet) to hear as they stand on this planet, taking it for granted.

I’m not saying I’m perfect–please don’t think I’m saying that. I’m just saying that I’ve just done some serious introspection over the last four years of my life and I’ve found that I don’t give a shit about whatever issue society is currently obsessed with because I don’t believe it’s as important as having a healthy, sustainable home to live on where every life is as important as the next–that includes the tiny birds that can rest on a single twig without breaking it.

I think it’s beautiful that nature always calls us home no matter how much we distance ourselves from it. We take, and we take, and we take, yet mother earth continues to lovingly call out to us–no matter what we’ve done. I mean, is that not the true definition of a loving mother? “Bring quickly the best robe and put it on [us]!” mother nature cries as we return to her like the father did to his servants as the prodigal son returned. Then, she adorns us with a sunset and a party of a million stars every single night for the rest of our lives if we but only pay attention to her.

Anthropologists will tell you that there’s an innate feeling within each of us to return to (and reside in) nature and you can call it crazy it you want but, I believe it. I believe that we were all made from dust and from that dust we shall return. Maybe that’s why we have such a connection to nature–because it’s as much a part of us as are the hearts beating in our chests.

And maybe that’s why I’ve become depressed as I watch the birds and the deer scramble for food. Maybe I feel sorry for them because my race has chosen their fate but, they just don’t know it yet. We have collectively decided the future of their little hearts and their little lungs and their little legs/wings/hoofs/whatever without their permission. Maybe the real reason I get depressed as I lock eyes with them is because of all I’ve accomplished in this world, I’ve yet to figure out how to save them from my race’s actions that will inevitably lead to their damnation.

I’ve noticed that the feelings of joy I used to get as I watched nature go by have increasingly turned to feelings of despair as I look into the eyes of the birds and squirrels happily eating their seeds because I know something terrifying that they don’t: human beings have charted this planet on a course of self-destruction and we’re taking them all down with us. And what’s worse is that we never even asked for their opinion because we knew exactly what they would say but, that wasn’t going to make anyone any fucking money.

What if the fear we saw in every wild animal’s eyes as we startled them wasn’t simply because we are foreign entities but rather because they know just what the fuck we’ve done to them? What if the fear in their eyes is actually a cry for help and a lack of trusting that we’d care for them at the exact same time? What if the problems in your life that are causing you anxiety about the future were weighed against theirs and you realized that they weighed exactly the same? What if you thought about that question for just one more minute? Would that change your perspective of nature? It did for me…

Where the fuck is the real-life Lorax when we need him the most?

Unless…